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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Researchers begin activities to make cassava work for the poor

Researchers
and key partners working under the Support for Agricultural Research and
Development for Strategic Crops (SARD-SC) have kicked off activities to improve
the productivity of cassava by at least 20 percent in project sites.

They
also want to increase household incomes and food security, and make the root
crop work for the poor.

Four
countries— DR Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia— are the main beneficiaries
of the cassava component but the project allows neighboring countries to tap
from technologies that would be generated.

“About
500,000 farmers are to directly benefit from the crop with more than 2 million
indirect beneficiaries,” said Dr Chrys Akem, Project Coordinator for the
SARD-SC at the launch of the cassava component of the project in DR Congo.

Consumed
by more than 600 million people in the developing countries, cassava is now
competing with crops such as maize and rice as Africa’s major staple.

But
the potential of the crop is still stymied by myriad challenges including pests
and diseases, poor adoption of improved varieties by farmers, and low use of
improved best practices.

Consequently,
yields across most regions from local varieties are below 10 tons per hectare
as opposed to over 30 tons per hectare obtained from improved varieties.

“The
SARD-SC project intends to tackle most of the bottlenecks confronting cassava
by disseminating improved varieties and unlocking the power of the crop along
the value chain,” Dr Akem added.

Participating
countries welcomed the project saying that it would help alleviate hunger and
poverty, and improve food security in Africa.

The
Democratic Republic of Congo’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,
Jean-Chrysostome Vahanwiti said cassava is a food security crop and that
research to improve the fortunes of cassava was a welcome development for the
country and the region.

He
applauded the attention being given to women and youth in terms of wealth and
job creation in the project.

Launched
last year, the SARD-SC project is a 5-year, multi-CGIAR
center initiative funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) that is aimed
at enhancing the productivity and income derived from cassava, maize, rice, and
wheat – four of the six commodities that African Heads of States, through the
Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program, have defined as
strategic crops for Africa.

The project, which will run until
2016, will be co-implemented by three Africa-based CGIAR centers: IITA, Africa
Rice Center, and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry
Areas. IITA is also the Executing Agency of the project.

Another CGIAR center – the
International Food Policy Research Institute – a specialized technical agency,
will support the other three centers.

Drs. Victor Manyong and Bernard
Vanlauwe, IITA Hub Directors said the success of the project depended on joint
efforts with partners to ensure that scientific innovations work for the poor.

They reechoed IITA’s commitment to
work with partners across the continent to deliver benefits to Africa.

APO Energy Media Awards 2015 - Dubai

K.A.D Profile

Kofi Adu Domfeh is a Development Journalist, Social Entrepreneur & Human Rights Promoter. He works with The Multimedia Group in Ghana as an Assisting News Editor.
He has corresponded for international media organizations for radio and online feature reporting.
His reporting interests are in green economy, agriculture, environment and science - covering assignments in parts of the world.
He was selected among the TwentyTen Dream Team of 18 African Journalists to go to the football World Cup in South Africa to report on Sports & Society.
Domfeh is a Fellow of Africa Means Business (AMB), the Thomson Reuters Foundation and a Mentor under the John Templeton Foundation’s Biosciences for Farming in Africa (B4F4) Fellowship.
Domfeh is the 2015 Winner of the APO Energy Media Awards. In 2014, he emerged Winner of the African Climate Change and Environment Reporting (ACCER) Awards. He was 3rd Best of the same Awards in 2013.
He holds a B.A Degree in Sociology and Social Work, Diploma in Journalism and others in Business and ICT. He has also had training from UNITAR, Thomson Reuters Foundation and WRENmedia UK.
His blog is to upscale development journalism in Africa.